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| Court to look at policy on inmate subscriptions |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/23/2004 |
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The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered a lower court to reconsider a Kansas Department of Corrections policy restricting prison inmates' newspaper, magazine and newsletter subscriptions. The appeals court said in its ruling Tuesday that U.S. Senior District Judge G. Thomas VanBebber should not have dismissed cases filed by two former inmates and a Seattle-based newsletter called Prison Legal News without a trial. Attorneys representing the inmates and Prison Legal News had argued the ban on gift subscriptions for inmates, limitations on the amount inmates could spend on publications, and rules that prevent some inmates from receiving any subscriptions violated free speech rights. They also argued the restrictions isolated inmates from the outside. The state had argued that the policies helped control the flow of property to inmates, control contraband, encourage inmates to spend money wisely and provide incentives for inmates to remain on good behavior. The prison policies were raised in three cases, one filed by Prison Legal News in 2002, and separate cases filed in 2000 and 2001 by Kris Zimmerman and Joseph E. Jacklovich Sr., who were both inmates at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility but were released this year. Zimmerman and Jacklovich sued after the Hutchinson prison confiscated hometown newspapers and magazines such as Bee Culture for Zimmerman and Easyriders for Jacklovich. Zimmerman wants the state to pay him for the publications it seized; Jacklovich is seeking $200,000 in damages. |
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